barney and john beery



E. H. BARNEY AND JOHN BERRY, SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS.

Letters Parent No. 65,531, @zaad June 11, 1867.

IMPROVEMENT IN autres.'

TO ALL WHOM I'l MAY CONGERN: y

Be it known 'that we, E. H. BARNEY and JOHN Bamm', of Springfield, in the county of Hampden, and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Skate-Clamps; and we do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the annexed drawings, making a part of this specification, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, in which- Figure 1 is a plan of the under side of the foot-plate of a skate, showing clamp attached.

Figure 2 is a transverse vertical section through line D E ot' fig. 1.

Figure 3 is a longitudinal vertical section through line F G of fig. l; and

Figure 4 is a top plan of a foot-plate. y f Y The nature of my invention consists in upsetting portions of the foot-plate of a skate, so that theportionsv so upset shall act as a support, or socket, in which to operate the clamps in securing the skate to or removing it from the boot, instead of using screws and slotted clamps, as has heretofore been done ;V and also in so arranging a pin or dowel in one ofthe clamps as that a screw having only one thread cut upon it'shall draw the clamps together or force them apart. Heretofore these clamps have been operated' by having slots cut. in the clamps, and a set-screw passing through the slots and 'screwed into the-foot-plate; but in skating', if the ice is not perfectly smooth and free from any roughness, there is a constant jar, which quite often starts the screws,-

however tight-they may be screwed in, and they gradually work out and are lost, if not closely watched. It is therefore very desirable that there should be as few screws as'kpossible used in the manufacture and use of skates. To enable others skilled in the art to make and use our invention., we will proceed to describe its construction Aand application to use.

In the drawings, A represents the foot-plate of a skate, which is cut through by a suitable die or stamp, at the places and in the shape indicated by the lines g g. This leaves the pieces ff connected only at their longest sides with the foot-plate A, and the shortest sides of the pieces ff are bent downwards suiciently to allow the clamps a a having their edges L z. bevelled to be passed between the lowc edges of the pieces ff and the foot-plateA; and the pieces ff thus serve as sockets or supports in which the clamps a a' may have the required lateral play. The screw c has a thread eut upon one end of'it, and upon the other end is the square head l, and having the collar z', which operates against the eye I) of the clamp a, and the screw chas also' the groove cut-'init ate, into which plays the piu or d'owel e'. The hole through the eye I5 of the clamp a, into which the screw-c passes, has no thread cut in it, but is plain upon its inside, and that part of the screw near the collar has no thread cut upon it; but the hole through the eye Z1 ofthe clamp a husa female screw-thread cut in it, into which worksthe thread cut upon the screw-c. When the clamps are to be drawn together a key is applied to the square head Z, and the screw c turned in, and the screw turning throughv the eye b the collar z' is drawn up against the eye b, and the two clamps-a and a are thus drawn together. When the clamps are to be forced apart, or the skate removed from the hoot, the screw c is turned the other way or outwards, and the collar z' upon the screw c operates against the pine", which prevents the screw c from passing out of the eye 6 of the clamp a, thus keeping the collar z' nearly or quite inconstant contact with the eye b of the clamp a. By this action the clamps a and a are forced apart, and either one or both will move in the act of separation or in coming together. The smooth part of the screw c tits loosely enough in the hole of the eye b to allow the ears d d to adapt themselves to the sole of the'boot. u l

By this method of making the socket and clamp, we are enabled to avoid the use of screws, which are constantlyjarring out and being lost; are enabled to manufacture them very much cheaper than by any othermethod; they are much more simple in their adjustment to the foot, and are not so liable to get out of repair. We are aware that clamps have been used before for the purpose of adjusting skates to the boot, but never to our knowledge has a clamp made in this manner been used. We do not intend to conueourselves te the exact form of the pieces ff, as represented in the drawings when struck up or upset fronrthe footplate A, as the forms may vary in size or shape, without departing from the principle of its operation. We do not claim the manufacture of skate-clamps irrespective of our arrangement or mode of manufacture; but, having described our invention, whatwe do "claim as new, and desire to secure by Letterslatent, is-

1. As a. new article of manufacture, the pieces ff, when punched or upset from Ythe foot-plate A, in combination with the clamps a and n', having bevelled edges 7L, all mede substantially as herein described and for the purposes set forth. 'l

2. The pin e, when attached to the clamp a, and operating in the groove e, or against the collar z', on its outside, when made substantially as herein described and for the purposes herein set forth.

E. H. BARNEY, vJOHN BERRY.

Witnesses:

J. P. BUeKLAND, A. G. REED. 

